EU Referendum (Free subscription) | 20/05/2008
The much expected and somewhat overdue announcement on the go-ahead for the Navy's two "super" carriers was made today. According to The Times the £3.9 billion contract will not be signed until June, the delay being to allow the formal establishment of a joint venture company which will build the 65,000 ton ships. This is the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, which include BAE Systems, VT Group, Thales UK,...
Atlantic Review (Free subscription) | 20/05/2008
European defense has two problems: The defense spending is much lower than in the US. And in addition, the money is not used as efficiently as in the US, because each EU country has its own military with its own equipment. Therefore, I am pleasantly surprised to read in The Sunday Times (HT: Zyme): Two hundred years after the battle of Trafalgar, the [British] navy could end up sharing the pride of...
Neptunus Lex (Free subscription) | 18/05/2008
Man, talk about a crew swap: Royal Navy may share new carriers with France (France and Britain) are facing a £2 billion shortfall in their defence budgets and the cost of the new carriers at just under £2 billion each is proving a major burden. The “bilateral carrier group interoperability initiative” was proposed by the French president, Nicolas [...]
Erkan's field diary (Free subscription) | 21/05/2008
EU business, farmers criticise new WTO proposals Despite optimism from World Trade Organisation officials that new negotiating drafts presented on 19 and 20 May will act as a "springboard" towards achieving a global trade pact, the EU and its major...
